The present invention is directed to toy water guns having at least one expandable bladder for discharge of a liquid under pressure, and more particularly, to a toy water gun having an expandable bladder which can deliver a high volume of water at a relatively high and constant pressure through one of a selectable number of shaped stream discharge orifices to produce a pattern shaped water discharge.
Bladder water guns having an on-board pump are known, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,827, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth. Such water guns have proven to be extremely popular and successful in the market. One known water gun of this type, the CPS(trademark) 3000, which is marketed by the assignee of the present invention, provides a selectable nozzle arrangement having four nozzles mounted on a manually rotatable turret. A selected nozzle can be aligned with an outlet opening prior to discharging water from the water gun. Three of the nozzles are each provided with a single round opening of a different size in order to change the volume and intensity of the discharge stream. A fourth nozzle is provided with an opening as shown in FIG. 8, which produces a high volume generally round xe2x80x9cblastxe2x80x9d stream which is bigger than the largest of the three single round opening nozzles.
It is also known to provide bladder water guns with a rapid charging capability without the need for pumping if an external pressurized water source, such as public water, is available, as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/227,066, filed Jan. 5, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth. This provides for enhanced enjoyment and ease of use, especially for younger users who may have more difficulty using the manual pump, and allows for faster recharging of the toy gun. These guns allow a user to pressurize the water gun using a manual pump located on the gun when an external source of pressurized water is not available.
This recent bladder gun technology is approaching the limit on how much water can be carried by a user and discharged in a single xe2x80x9cshotxe2x80x9d, as well as practical limits on distance and stream continuity while still maintaining a relatively inexpensive toy which can be used by children. It would be desirable to provide additional features for a water gun in order to develop more interest on the part of users.
Briefly stated, the present invention relates to a toy gun for discharging a shaped stream of liquid under pressure, comprising:
a housing;
an expandable bladder located in the housing, the expandable bladder being adapted to provide a generally constant pressure discharge of liquid contained therein;
a trigger connected to a release valve for regulating discharge of liquid from the expandable bladder to a discharge outlet; and
a turret mounted rotatable nozzle assembly having a plurality of nozzles connected to the housing, each nozzle being selectively rotatable to a position in fluid communication with the discharge outlet, at least two of the plurality of nozzles including different shaped, non-circular stream nozzle orifice arrangements, wherein actuation of the trigger regulating the release of pressurized liquid through the discharge outlet and the selected one of the plurality of nozzles results in the liquid being discharged in a shaped stream having a generally constant form defined by the shape of the selected nozzle orifice arrangement.